captioned by closed captioning services, inc. good morning i'm eric thomas. cheryl jennings is off today. and i'm kristen sze. in a few hours the president will be in the bay area. he's making his way up from southern california. right now you are looking at a live picture near bakersfield where the president will be speaking shortly this is ken salazar speaking now announcing a new national monument honoring the late farm leader cesar chavez.

he boarded air force one th morning after celebrity fundraisers. for the first time he needled himself over the poor debate performance last week. >> 4:00 this afternoon he will be at the international continental hotel. protesters are planning a march and rally to demand end to united states military action. traffic restrictions are in place near the hotel and at the civic auditorium. complete live team coverage of the president's visit starting at 4:00. meantime, the president's republican challenger mitt romney is focusing on foreign policy. today he said mr. obama's failure to protect american embassy workers in libya led to the death of ambassador chris stevens last month. >> reporter: mitt romney shifted his focus today to

foreign policy. >> the tax on our consulate on september 11th, 2012 was likely the work of force as fill ed with those who atack our homeland on september 11th, 2001 this latest assault can't be blamed on a reprehensible video insulting islam, despite administration's attempts to convince of us of that. >> reporter: the romney campaign is trying to reverse the tide on this issue. the republican contender used today's speech to keep up his criticism of the obama administration. romney had a swagger. he's riding a wave of momentum after last week's debate. latest poll taken after the denver show count has the race tied at 47 among registered voters. president obama had a five point advantage in the three days leading in the debate. the same poll found voters overwhelmingly said romney

won't debate, the biggest debate win ever recorded by gallup. bigger than clinton's 42 point margin over bush.4!zf[ç in los angeles last night musicians lent their support. mr. obama thanked the performers and threw in a not so subtle reference to his debate performance. >> the president: they perform flawlessly, night after night. i can't always say the same. >> reporter: with the polls tightening the pressure is on vice president biden who squares off against ryan thursday night. karen travers, abc news, washington. senator feinstein has called for a federal investigation into record gas prices we are pail. today's report shows san francisco averages $4.74 for regular oakland and san jose $4.68. those prices are 50 cents a

gallon higher than a week ago. the senator has asked the ftc for an immediate probe questioning whether the spike is related to supply. yesterday governor brown ordered smog regulators to allow cheaper winter blend gas to go on sale early to bring down the price. they are cleaning up this morning around oakland city hall after 250 protesters went on a vandalism spree last night. they broke windows and damaged cars around 6 p.m.. the targets included city hall, police recruiting station, several banks and other businesses, plus cars parked along the street. there are no reports of any arrests. vigil will be held tonight for a hercules woman found stabbed in her home. 55-year-old susie ko was found friday night the murder weapon has not been found. the family is holding a memorial for the retired schoolteacher tonight at 8:30 on ash court in hercules.

the family is trying to find her killer through social media. they are asking you to keep an eye open for her light blue 2011 subaru outback. cities are experiencing long delays this morning a computer connection problem is preventing alaska from checking in passengers other airports in portland, spokane and los angeles in seattle where alaska is the dominant carrier passengers are being checked in manually. we checked the bay area's airports an hour ago, none are reporting problems. right now, san jose-based grocery chain facing boycott over employment policies. coalition of community groups holding news conference to discuss a boycott against pueblo markets the group say they are angry they are using a program created by the department of homeland security to verify whether new hires are in the country

legally. store officials say they joined the program after it was suggested during an immigration audit. dhs says the program is voluntary. ucsf celebrate ago accomplishment of -- celebrating an accomplishment of a doctor affiliated he shares the nobel prize in medicine with britain's john gurdon. >> reporter: what makes this award especially excite something when the doctor wanted to become a researcher' to several labs and says no one would return his call except for the lab here at ucsf. now inside they are joyous. the team celebrated their nobel prize winning scientist this morning and congratulateed the doctor through video ing from san francisco while he

grinned in a conference room in japan. >> thank you very much again. >> reporter: he is being recognized for his breakthrough discovery in stem cell research. he found by adding four genes into skin cells, could induce the cells to become like embryonic stem cells. scientists believe this will change the way they can medicate nut future. >> if you might have a bad side effect to that medicine, we would be able to know that by testing your stem cells in a dish before we give the pill so if you are going to have a bad side effect we avoid giving it to you but we can give it to everybody else in room. >> reporter: researchers believe this will help shift the way people in country think about stem cell research. since his discovery obtains human stem cells without using embryos. >> this award will likely raise awareness that the public can move on and think about how we can use this to treat people and move past the ethical debate that has

consumed this country over the last decade >> reporter: even more exciting is how the doctor persevered to make his discovery. some criticized him satisfying his time and thought he should move on to more important work. >> if i had to pick someone to win and become a spokesperson for what is best about science and biomedical science it would be him. >> reporter: i asked the doctor how he is going to celebrate. he said he's probably going to have a beer. the love for medicine runs in his family, his wife is a dermatologist and their two doctors are both in medical school. amy hollyfield, abc7 news. much more still ahead. developing news in a meningitis outbreak linked to contaminated medicine, the rise in the number of cases. battle between wedding caught on video. the wild fight that ended with the death of one man.

federal health officials say the number of confirmed meningitis cases from contaminated steroid shots has risen to 105, death toll from 7 to 8. the drugs were sent to four clinics here in california. t.j. winick reports the drugs are being recalled. >> reporter: the pharmacy the at the center of the meningitis out brach has announced voluntary recall of every product -- it makes

saying this action is being taken out of abundance of caution. one of those sickened was janet russell of nashville. >> everybody is going through the same thing it is hard. to see your mother itch >> reporter: it began with a contaminated shipment of steroids from the new england compound center the steroids injected into the spine to reduce back pain were contaminated with a fungus that goes from the spinal fluid to the brain causing a rare form of meningitis. >> this has more than doubled since friday these were injections people got for back pain. now they have to worry about meningitis. >> reporter: the company is one of thousands of compound pharmacies that mix their own medicines. the idea, to let some taylor make drugs for people who need special blends. it is not the first problem. nine patients died last year in alabama, after receiving a feeding solution made by a come found pharmacy contaminated with bacteria. former fda offici says the

industry has been hijacked by those making cheap copies of safer drugs. >> these individuals are no different than counterfeiters many instead of manufacturing fake rolexes they are manufacturing fake drugs. >> reporter: the problem that many see with these pharmacies is that they don't have to meet fda standards for manufacturing drugs. t.j. winick, abc news, new york. alarming new research scores the danger of leaving autistic children unattended. according to a study in baltimore, nearly half of the autistic children surveyed wandered away from home. of those 25% were in dangerdr risk being hit by traffic. meteorologist mike nicco is ahead with a changing forecast. >> looks like a little cooler today. we have that upper hello spinning to our west going to bring us a few clouds and

possibility of a shower or two. we'll talk about that. plus annual great pumpkin weigh-off is underway in half moon bay. we'll show you some of

the title of the word's largest pumpkin is up for grabs now in half moon bay. massive gourds are being weighed now. sue thompson checks out the action. >> 1 097. >> reporter: the day half moon bay waits all year for where giant gourds and pretty pumpkins go for gold at the annual pumpkin weigh-off. big better and competition is tough. >> bragging rights of winning half moon bay drives these growers more than the money. >> reporter: two-time win area rifed with this monster from oregon. his kids danica and derrick are missing school for the event. first timer angela is here too.

>> anybody can do it if you have the time. i was like a second job. i don't know if i will do it again. >> reporter: her gourd hit 432 pounds. what is the recipe to growing a super-sized prize pumpkin? growers are -- [ inaudible ] >> i think getting your soil just right is probably one of the most important things. you gotta be willing to spend the money to use a laboratory. have your soil analyzed. >> reporter: ron started serious pumpkin growing three years ago and says one hour a day per pumpkin is what it takes. >> the biggest growing secret is make friends with people who are better than you. >> reporter: the champion's secret? >> you have to start with proper seeds. >> reporter: and a lot of water. 150 gallons a day, no kidding. >> it is like gold fever you get addicted and keep growing and tearing out more of your yard.

>> reporter: in half moon bay, sue thompson, abc7 news. the weather was nice for that. >> it was. >> and for the rest of us. next couple of days sunshine, a little cloud cover, maybe a small chance of a shower as we look south from mount tamalpais this morning, a few clouds hanging around. farther south you can see san jose not as many clouds, in the low 60s now 64. clouds barely any moisture, maybe a few more along the coast dell seeing sunshine, no radar returns, all is dry on live doppler. low to mid 60s in most neighborhoods, fairfield 67, los gatos 69 and half moon bay 59°. low to mid 60s monterey bay inland to gilroy, 68 the warm spot in salinas. today partly cloudy, slightly

cooler than yesterday, a few clouds tonight, you will still be able to see the international space station. showers possible best hans in the south especially wednesday maybe stray shower in the north tomorrow. today first, temperatures 5 to 12° below where they should be for this time of the year. in the south bay upper 60s to low 70s. up the peninsula, mid 60s to near 70° in redwood city and los altos toes -- los altos. 64 south san francisco, 65 sausalito, low 60s and sun at beaches mixed with cloud cover from time to time. mid to upper 60s east bay shore, low to mid 70s warmer in the east bay valleys. monterey bay mix of clouds and sun and mid to upper 60s. around the state hottest weather palm springs 94.

san diego 72, l.a. 78, 65 in tahoe. back home for tonight a few more clouds than this morning, partly cloudy, 40s in the north bay valleys, low to mid 50s for the rest of us. as we wake up tomorrow morning cloud cover any shower activity will be over the coast mainly where going to stay until possibly northern sections of sonoma county may have a stray shower. towards the evening and overnight it fall as part and a better chance wednesday afternoon, well south of the monterey bay. for us, most of us outside of stray shower cooler tomorrow and wednesday. slow warming trend thursday and friday. better warming trend temperatures closer to average into saturday and sunday. i wouldn't look for measurable rain tomorrow or wednesday. it is not too late to win $49,000 from abc7. these people are taking the

chance: they've all ended through our facebook page the winner will be announced after the 49ers game here october 18th. you can enter too go to facebook.com/abc7news then click the win $49,000 button. good luck. three people arrested in philadelphia after two wedding celebrations ended in a brawl with deadly consequences. take a look at this youtube video. police state fight broke out early sunday morning among dozens of guests attending two different wedding receptions at the same hotel police had to use batons and tasers to break it up. an uncle of one of the brides had a heart attack and die. police say alcohol was involved. congressional committee warning government agencies and private industry avoid doing business with china's two leading tech firms. the report warns that the

companies pose major security threat to the u.s.. year long investigation found the companies are influenced by the chinese government and the telecommunications gear they sell may be compromise. -- may be compromised. ample could be gearing up for a huge launch of ipad mini. "wall street journal" reports the company has asked suppliers to make more than 10 million, double the number amazon ordered for the kindle fire. apple said to be planning on october 17th, launch event. if you missed events this weekend you have within more chance today. plus, -- record breaking numbers on bay area mass transit. that's the

on katie, is heaven real. . then at 4:00, money saving myth the best time to get biggest holiday deals. then at 5, angry birds about to enter a galaxy far, far way those stories and more at 4 and 5. fleet week wraps up today with tours of ships from the navy, coast guard and royal canadian navy. the uss makin island is a helicopter carrier amphibious assault vessel, carries a lot of marines with aircraft and hovercraft so they can get some place in a hurry and bring a lot of firepower with

them. >> 4:00 this afternoon, you saw the weekend performances of the blue angels and all that america's cup and hardly strictly bluegrass, all bringing huge crowd s to san francisco. saturday bart had its busiest weekend day with more than 319,000 riders. this being columbus day a lot of kids and parents may head out and catch what is left of fleet week. >> i hope those sailors and marines enjoyed their visit here. >> from the half moon bay pumpkin weigh-off, they are getting to the finals. >> we'll let you know later today who was the big winner

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